The epistle of Jude is short, sweet and concentrated. There are many beautiful phrases and powerful images contained in this message delivered to the church of Jesus Christ under the apostle’s designation ‘the common salvation’. We shall dwell on some of these in the coming weeks. Jude, or Judas, was one of the Lord’s twelve disciples. He was, it seems, also called Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus. He is distinguished from Judas Iscariot who betrayed the Lord by his relationship to James, son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18, Acts 1:13). A good question The only incident recorded of this Jude in the gospels is in John 14:22 where during Christ’s address to His disciples after the last supper Jude put the question, ‘Lord, how…

‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.’ It is good for us to be brought back regularly to reflect on the majesty, glory and infinity of God. God is self-sufficient and needs nothing from us. He possesses all perfection. He is the first and last. Nothing can be added to God nor taken from Him. Conversely, everything we have has been given to us by Him out of His goodness and by His grace. These opening verses are a timely tonic against human pride. Christ’s blood is sufficient Just as we cannot add anything to God’s glory, neither can we add anything to the perfect satisfaction of Christ’s death for sin. Killing an ox or lamb is no doubt a reference to…